


A Crash Course in Foreign Culture 101

by Jaded_From_Life



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Accidental Proposal, F/M, I don't know how to tag still, Self-Indulgent, Stole-"Burrowed" Idea, someone help me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23241823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaded_From_Life/pseuds/Jaded_From_Life
Summary: A.K.A guy accidentally asks a girl out because someone somewhere is getting their kicks out of it(hint: it's me)
Relationships: Tanya Keys/Mao Mao Mao
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	A Crash Course in Foreign Culture 101

Tanya doesn’t have many regrets—her profession doesn’t really allow for it, especially when you’re bound to piss off a few people who can hold a grudge—and true to her word, she can count the few she have in one paw. 

But there is one that’s really getting to her. And really, in the bigger picture, it’s not that big of a deal. 

“Hey, Tanya, whaddya think of this?” 

Scratch that, it’s actually a _really_ big deal. 

Tanya turned to look at Mao Mao, who was disguised as a crocodile bandit. They were hunting down a bounty of a rather pesky bandit leader that’s been harassing travelling merchants too much and has set up a fortified camp somewhere inside a forest. The bandits’ numbers were too many for a frontal assault (the first thing her partner suggested they’d do), so this requires a more subtle approach. 

“Good enough, mittens,” Tanya tells him, giving Mao Mao a once-over. “Your head’s leaning a bit to the right though.” 

The eyes of Mao Mao’s disguise didn’t blink, but she could just imagine it, and he fiddles with his mask for a bit. “There. Is it fine now?” 

“There you go.”

It shouldn’t have bothered her this much. In fact, it wasn’t an issue back then! It didn’t even have the _potential_ to be an issue back then!

It began a few months after they met up. The two of them were really hitting it off as partners with a good sort of flow with each other. Simply put, Tanya finds good company with Mao Mao, even if they have some disagreements every now and then. It was during one of their downtime when Mao Mao popped the question. 

“Can you teach me how to pull off disguises like you?” 

Such a simple question, only to be the catalyst of her undoing. 

Tanya had laughed off the request at the time, telling Mao Mao that he should start with something a lot simpler than trying to copy her. She then proceeded to explain to him that her skills are an art that only her people are capable of doing _(she’ll admit that she was just flexing to get a rise out of him)_. The indignant sputtering he did was priceless and the look on hiss face when she lied about the part she was able to do it since birth made it all the more sweeter. 

Of course, Mao Mao being Mao Mao, the cat took it as a challenge – declaring that he’ll be able to match Tanya’s disguises one day. She had laughed so hard that day her sides were hurting for a good hour. 

And thus, Mao Mao’s _hilarious_ attempts in disguises began. His first attempts were costume changes, and the funny part was that he never removed his “hero clothes” _(his words, not hers)_ , so they all ended up botched until he finally had enough of Tanya teasing him. Next, while still being _terrible_ at something as simple as changing outfits, he tried his hand at voice acting, which was an entirely different bag of hilarious as his vocal range was either “gruff ‘n tough” or “preteen”. And for a good three months, that was all Mao Mao did, and it was the best three months Tanya ever had. 

However, such joys did not last forever. 

Mao Mao had disappeared for an entire week during that time. Now, Tanya didn’t really find anything suspicious about it. Whenever Mao Mao does disappear, she’s usually made aware of it and was told he was visiting his family for a bit or some other reason, and he’ll usually come back to find her _(she’s not about to wait around for him after all, she’s got bounties to collect)_. 

Three days into her solo ventures, Tanya was taking a break for some training, a regular thing for her and more of a routine instilled into her by her teachers. It was at the end of her session when she noticed that one of her clones hadn’t disappeared. That was weird. She approached the clone with a suspicious glance, noting that she didn’t really feel _anything_ from her clone, which was also weird. 

And then it said, “Boo.” 

Tanya yelped in surprise, stumbling back and falling on her butt. The _not-clone_ clone hunched over her. “What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

Tanya opened her mouth but nothing came out, far too shocked by the spectacle happening in front of her. She stared wide-eyed at the not-clone, wondering just _what_ was happening until her thoughts were clear enough to take notice of a few things that were just _off—_ the eyes, while facing forward, were never focused on her, its fur had a weird unnatural shine to it, and the voice had a strange gruffness to it. 

The definitely-not-clone laughed before standing back up straight. It reached for its head before _twisting_ it a bit and then _popping_ it out, revealing a cat with black fur and green eyes. 

It was Mao Mao. The person disguised as a near perfect replica of her, who is making a half-decent mimicry of her voice, is Mao Mao _(_ _stupid, silly, idiotic, and completely ignorant of what he'd done)_. The cat laughed again, this time in his actual voice. “You should’ve seen your face! I told you, I told you I could do it!” 

Tanya can just _feel_ her face light up like a Christmas tree and she was only half-aware of the gibberish spewing out of her mouth as her brain continues to provide anything of substance. **  
**

Mao Mao’s laughter died down and he offered a hand to her. “So... How’d I do?” he asked, a huge smug grin stretched over his face. 

Tanya couldn’t form any words, but in her dazed state managed to at least reach out for the cat's hand and let out a barely audible, “... _Yes_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Scary times we're in, ain't it? Forced to stay indoors, with a pandemic looming over us, and Mao Mao is still on hiatus and will likely be for a good long while. Anyway, here's one for you guys. Probably terrible for my first ever shipfic, and it's probably more like an "imagine" than an actual story.
> 
> I mean, it's not like I stole the idea from a Tumblr user or anything.
> 
> ... 
> 
> *cough @head-cannons-of-pure-heart.tumblr.com cough*


End file.
